“You have to show a degree of flexibility”, he said.
Advertisement
The final question of the night had moderators asking each candidate if they would support Trump if he is the Republican nominee for president – all said they would.
Senator Ted Cruz repeatedly called on him to release the tapes of the New York Times off-the-record briefing in which he is reported to have said he was flexible on immigration.
Rubio pressed Trump on the foreign workers he has imported to work at his Palm Beach resort, jobs he said could go to Americans. “But the answer is: Yes I will” support the eventual nominee.
Trump defended himself against attacks on Trump University, saying he won’t settle the lawsuit and wants to fight it. “So we bring people in and we send people out”.
The Detroit debate was one more opportunity for the Rubio and Cruz campaigns to try to slow Mr Trumps momentum.
“I’m going to give them some credit too, even though they don’t deserve it”, he said of the other candidates.
“True. Trump has put his name on some awful investments”, Colbert said.
When Rubio faulted Trump’s businesses for manufacturing clothing in China and Mexico rather than the US, Trump retorted, “This little guy has lied so much about my record”.
“I’m going to supporting that person and doing everything I can to make sure they become the nominee of the party”, he said. “Give me a break”.
“Let’s see what happens in court. It’s very easy to have been settled”.
Rubio’s attacks against Trump were not the only ones that Trump had to take in on Thursday.
Trump – who endorsed Romney in 2012 – fired back, calling the former MA governor a “choke artist” whose campaign was a “disaster”.
Trump also used the beginning of the debate to hit back at allegations he has small hands, stating “Look at these hands – are they small hands?” Mr Trump held up his two arms, to laughter and boos from the crowd. Are these small hands?
While he won’t support Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton as the candidate for the President of the United States, he said he has no plans to sit it out.
“Actually it was for business”, Trump replied. “People are energized by what I’m saying” in the campaign and turning out in remarkable numbers to vote, Trump told NBC’s “Today”.
It’s an important moment for the man who is now inarguably the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination and who will claim a larger portion of the spotlight now that many of his rivals are gone. Marco Rubio and businessman Donald Trump begins at 6 p.m. Pacific time.
Advertisement
Both won seven primaries of the Democratic and Republican parties as the possibility of a November presidential election showdown between the two seemed likely.
